Perleberg, 18.5.2010

Dear friends, dear sailors,

we are very glad about the possibility of realising of our Comenius dream with you all together in Perleberg this week. But we are very happy about the fact that pupils of three partner countries are here among us.We the pupils and teachers here in Perleberg are very satisfied with our co-operation after the first year. We could gain many friends, interesting ideas and of course we have learned a lot of things.

Now I want to tell you something about the situation of education at our school. For that some words about German history. I spent my childhood in a totally different social order. Socialism in the GDR was not successful and that’s why it doesn’t exist any longer. But some of its ideas are progressive. You can make it out at this school. It was built from 1969 to1971 and was used as a comprehensive school where children learned together from the first until the tenth form. I think that this kind of learning which is reality in many partner countries of the Comenius project will be general accepted in the next 2o years. After the reunification in 1989 the educational system of the Federal Republic of Germany was copied completely and we were literally overran by reforms.Today about 300 children attend this school at an age from 6 to 12 years. We have good learning conditions which I’d like to present you later.

According to the following principles we act at the Geschwister-Scholl-primary school:First:We stand for an action-orientated, student-centred and non-violent teaching. Second:Learning is to be taught to the pupils. They have to be taught, how to learn. They need to find out, how they can acquire knowledge, skills and abilities by themselves. For this we test modern teaching methods.Third:The pleasure and the fun of learning are important for a successful development.Fourth:We are well-connected with a great variety of co-operation partners and they do a splendid job in everyday life at school.Fifth:We are open to all partners and all kinds of work, that’s why we work closely together with the parents and the school board of the municipality.

What is the remarkable thing about our school which isn’t typical of all the other schools in our region?There are three possibilities for the start of the school career at our school.

1. Children learn in one form and all are of the same age.2. Children of different age learn in the forms 1 and 2. 3. Children of our area with speech problems learn together in a

form, where specially educated teachers try to correct their defects.

In the Prignitz there is an unemployment rate of 15 %. 20% of the parents with their children live on public assistance. They often have to cut down the expenses for the activities of their children. Despite all our efforts it is not always possible to encourage all children optimally because parents also don’t care enough about their children. That’s why we are sometimes unhappy.From the very beginning we can see serious differences in the stage of development. 50% of our pupils are learner drivers. On the basis of

the demographic development ever fewer children are in the villages and they only have limited fields of activities.

To improve the situation we worked out a concept of a whole-day school which was under consideration and approved by the Ministry of education. Now all children have got the possibility to develop their aptitude, their special skills and abilities by whole-day offers and what is very important, too, we can help them to overcome their gap of development. The combined teaching and whole-day offers create more individualized learning opportunities for all children. Now all pupils have got the opportunity to use attractive offers out of the classes.

What does it mean?From September 2 new teachers are going to work here.All children are going to learn here from Monday to Friday from half past seven a.m. to 1p.m.We will get € 600000 to improve the spatial conditionsAnd we will get € 10000 every year to finance the offers of our co-operation partners.We want to use the money to extend the patio on 2 floors, with an assembly hall below and a whole-day area on the second floor. The teachers are going to cooperate more with the after school care centre. Educators and teachers will work together with the children. Music school and football club, dance school and a zoo, a self-defence club and a leisure centre, handball and photo club, choir and pottery course will offer a wide range and pave the way for our pupils for a better life.

All of it sounds so easy, but the way is sometimes quite full of stones. The Comenius project is a real support to master our tasks. It is overwhelming to see how our colleagues in Europe do their work with great enthusiasm, how they find new ideas and how they realise them. We can take part in their successes. Our co-operation is the right way into a united Europe.We thank you and I wish the team a successful week.Thank you!Peter Awe (Rektor)